The
January meeting of the Tampa Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, will
held on Saturday, January 19th at the Piccadilly Cafeteria, located
at 11810 Dale Mabry Highway North, Tampa, Florida (813-963-1660). The speaker will be Ann W. Palmer, Senior Librarian,Library Services, Hillsborough County BOCC.The membership will be
given a report of the Board of Management meeting that was held on Sat. Jan. 5th.

American
Revolution Notes:

This month we turn to Jan. 15, 1776 and the
publication of Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and
the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common
people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from
Great Britain.I have copied some of the
more pertinent and more famous passages for you to read with a short note at
the end.

“IN the
following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and
common sense: and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than
that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his
reason and his feelings to determine for themselves that he will put on, or
rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously
enlarge his views beyond the present day.”

I HAVE never met
with a man, either in England or America, who hath not confessed his opinion,
that a separation between the countries would take place one time or other: And
there is no instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring
to describe, what we call, the ripeness or fitness of the continent for
independence.

As all men allow
the measure, and vary only in their opinion of the time, let us, in order to
remove mistakes, take a general survey of things, and endeavor if possible to
find out the VERY time. But I need not go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for
the TIME HATH FOUND US. The
general concurrence, the glorious union of all things, proves the fact.

I challenge the
warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this
continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the
challenge; not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in
any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we
will.

But the injuries
and disadvantages which we sustain by that connection, are without number; and
our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce
the alliance: because, any submission to, or dependence on, Great Britain,
tends directly to involve this Continent in European wars and quarrels, and set
us at variance with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship, and
against whom we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe is our market for
trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. It is the
true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she
never can do, while, by her dependence on Britain, she is made the makeweight
in the scale of British politics.

I shall conclude
these remarks, The birthday of a new world is at hand. Let the names of Whig
and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of a good
citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuous supporter of the RIGHTS of
MANKIND, and of the FREEAND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.

While the
pamphlet actually had very little influence on what was going on inside
Congress, it had a wide circulation among the people.Tens of thousands of copies were sold and
many that did not purchase a copy were able to get their hands on one.It had two main impacts.One…for the first time someone put the common
sense of the matter before the people in simple terms that could not be refuted.Second, it had the residual effect of causing
many other wise cautious men to join the army come spring.

It is
interesting to note, however, that when you think of the Revolution, the three
most radical of the colonial leaders, Sam Adams, Thomas Paine, and Patrick
Henry, all were marginalized after the victory at Yorktown an had no influence
on the writing of the Constitution.

Below is the tentative program schedule
for the 2013 calendar year.As always
send along any suggestions for speakers.

JanuarySpeaker
from the Tampa Public Library

FebruaryWashington
speaker—tentative/TBA

Marchtentative—genealogy speaker

AprilROTC
luncheon

MaySpeaker
Veterans Memorial Park and Museum

Sept.TBA

Oct.Law
Enforcement; EMT Fire Fighter
Medal

Nov.Joint
meeting with CAR
Dec.Installation of
Officers

Miscellaneous
Notes and Reminders:

Chapter
Website—always remember you can find information about the chapter and programs
on the chapter website.http://www.patriot-web.com/

Jack
Bolen wishes his gratitude to the Chapter for the award of his Meritorious
Service Medal be published in the Newsletter.

One
of the duties of the Chapter Chaplain is to send cards to our members that are
sick. If you know of anyone that I need to send a card to, please mention it at
our next meeting. Another duty is to send a sympathy card to the family of a
member who has passed away.

Jack
C. Bolen

Chaplain

Chapter
officers and committee chairman are encouraged to send any pertinent
information they wish included in the newsletter to the editor, Bob Yarnell.